Regional
(2010-01-14)
GREELEY, CO
(KUNC) -
So-called telehealth conferencing is a technique that rural clinics have used for years to connect patients with specialists and doctors. Now the Department of Veteran's Affairs is adopting the technology to help veterans in Colorado and four other states. The Salida telehealth clinic is staffed with registered nurses and has one mobile video conferencing unit that can be moved between examining rooms. It's the first of ten such clinics to open in the region. Jordan Schupbach is public affairs officer for the Veteran's Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System.
"At the very least it provides a first line of getting involved with their physician to talk about these things," he says. "So their initial appointments can be handled through the telehealth equipment versus having to make those initial trips down into Denver or Pueblo."
Overall the V.A. Office of Rural Health expects to spend $7 million dollars in the region building the telehealth clinics in the coming years. Schupbach says before today, patients in Salida had to drive at least two hours to the nearest outpatient clinic in Pueblo. © Copyright 2012, KUNC
